Did you get out the old family Christmas lights yet? Good! Did you put them in the recycle bin? Excellent! Time to Greenify with new LED lights. Did you know by using the newest LED strands of lights, you can actually save 90% off your electrical usage bill? If you are lighting up the house, the yard, the trees and the fence out front, well, shame on you! But nine times the shame (and certainly nine times the expense) if you do it with non-LED lights.

I am actually sort of excited because for the first time in years, I’m going to go out and buy a strand of these things. I haven’t had occasion to have a tree for the past couple of years, so I didn’t bother. So this is the year that I am going to pick up the LED ones. I’m still haggling in my brain: one bright strand of multi-colored lights? Or “just plain white ones, thank you!” I have to admit, vanilla is my favor flavor of ice cream but when it comes to Christmas, I like the world a-glow in multiple shades of Christmas red and green, a little Hanukkah blue with some orange and yellow lights tossed in for the added fun of it. Forget to buy the tinsel and you’ll be well ahead of the game. What else?

How about if you make your own Christmas wrap this year? Most packaged holiday wrap is thrown away anyway. (I hope no one is burning that toxic-paint-covered stuff anymore!) Consider wrapping in old newspapers (get the kids to add their own holiday themes) or maps. The comics section works great, but you’d better ask the neighbors for theirs, too. How about old maps? A scarf or dish towel? Give grandparents a thrill by wrapping it in the kids’ artwork.

Here’s a shocker: if every family wrapped just three gifts this way, we’d save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.

One last green holiday gift: give your old phone to a charity. You’re getting a new one for Christmas, right? Remove all the numbers and drop off the old one at any Staples office supply store. The Sierra Club recycles them, keeping their lead, cadmium and other metals out of our landfills.

There are lots of ways to make your holidays bright and Greenified. We’ll see you again next week with more.

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